MARVEL MOVIE ROUNDUP

Marvel Enterprises on Tuesday supplied details of its upcoming film projects during its Marvel Analyst Day webcast.

Also among the news was that Fantastic Four is now targeted for a summer 2005 release and that the third X-Men is targeted for a 2006 release. A director's cut of Daredevil will be released on DVD in April.

Following is a list of targeted projects, with descriptions coming from Marvel:

2004 RELEASE

* Man-Thing: Released on Aug. 26. A big city sheriff investigating a series of bizarre murders in a backwater swamp town must uncover the secrets hidden in the swamp before he becomes the next victim of the horrific Man-Thing.

PLANNED FOR 2005

* Fantastic Four: Reed Richards. Sue Storm. Benjamin Grimm. Johnny Storm. All adventurers at heart, they rocketed into space in an experimental starship, the first humans to attempt interstellar travel. But a freak encounter with cosmic rays changed their lives forever, granting each unique powers.

* Iron Man: Inventor. Businessman. Ladies' man. Super hero. Gravely injured by an acto of industrial sabotage, billionaire genius Tony Stark save his own life by designing a life-sustaining shell -- the hi-tech armor that is the invicible Iron Man.

* Ghost Rider: Starring Nicolas Cage. Directed by Mark Steven Johnson. When innocent blood is spilled, bad-boy biker John Blaze finds himself transformed into a skeletal fire demon thundering through the night on a mystical motorcycle of pure hellfire. As Ghost Rider, he avengers just souls tarnished by the touch of evil.

* Elektra: Starring Jennifer Garner. Elektra is the daughter of a powerful Greek diplomat and the girlfriend of blind lawyer Matt Murock. Although she possesses no superhuman abilities, Elektra is a consummate practiioner of the martial arts. She is a mistress of the skills of the ancient ninja of Japan, and an Olympic-level athlete and gymnast.

PLANNED FOR 2006

* Namor: Namor the Sub-Mariner -- monarch of the mighty, sunken empire Atlantis -- strives to balance his fiery temper with his responsibilities of state. Ruling from his undersea throne, Namor's foremost concern is the welfare of his subjects. but on occasion, he rises from the depths to defend all humanity.

* Deathlok: Directed by Lee Tamahori. A suburban husband and father is infected with a techno-organic virus and must race to find a cure before it takes over his mind and turns him into an unstoppable killing machine.

* Werewolf by Night: Directed by John Fasano. A young man cursed with the ability to become a werewolf falls in love with the daughter of the man who's sworn to kill him.

ULTIMATE X-MEN'S "NEW MUTANTS"

Marvel's Ultimate Starts stunt continues on Dec. 10 with the release of Ultimate X-Men #40, by Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch.

The issue starts a new five-issue story arc called "New Mutants."

Here's how Marvel describes the story:

"The advisors of the President of the United States believe he's being
secretly controlled by Professor Xavier and a plan is hatched to free the
Chief Executive from his mutant influence and to prepare for any X-Men
related contingency. But the identity of the person behind the scheme and
his or her solution to the Xavier problem is just one of many surprises in
store for the X-Men."

Bendis and Finch are marking their second consecutive on-time story arc
together. "New Mutants" will introduce additions to the
Ultimate X-Men cast, including new friends and new foes like Angel, Dazzler, Karma and Havok.

Ultimate X-Men #40 will cost $2.25. Click on the thumbnails for larger images.

THE SIMPSONS UPDATE

Fox has released two images from "The Regina Monologues," the new episode of The Simpsons that is airing on Sunday, Nov. 23.

KIDS' WB! PREVIEW

Kids' WB! will provide previews of its 2004 shows -- including Static Shock and Astro Boy -- during "Turkey Surprise Day," a special block of programming scheduled to air on Saturday, Nov. 29 from 8 a.m.-noon (ET).

The morning will be hosted by the Teen Titans from their tower. The festivities will feature some of their original home movies -- including what they did for Thanksgiving, with a giant seven-foot turkey that really enjoys playing "Turkey Day" pranks on unsuspecting kids and adults.

Static Shock is expected to begin its fourth season early next year with an episode teaming Static with Batman Beyond.

The network also revised its Saturday morning lineup, beginning Nov. 22 and marking the departure of X-Men: Evolution and a double showing of Pokemon: Advanced.

Here's the new lineup:

* 8 a.m.: Yu-Gi-Oh!: Enter the Shadow Realm.

* 8:30 a.m.: Teen Titans.

* 9 a.m.: Jackie Chan Adventures.

* 9:30 a.m. Xiaolin Showdown.

* 10 a.m.: Pokemon Advanced.

* 10:30 a.m.: Mucha Lucha.

* 11 a.m.: Yu-Gi-Oh!: Enter the Shadow Realm.

* 11:30 a.m.: Pokemon Advanced.

DC COMICS COLLECTED EDITIONS

DC Comics on Tuesday night announced that it is continuing to expand its collected edition program in 2004 with new trade paperback and hardcover collections.

This first batch of new collections comes from the DCU and Beyond the Universe and includes stories from the 1940s to this past summer.

ABOUT COMICS' ALICE

About Comics in January will release Alice, a full-length graphic novel adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lele Dowling.

"This adaptation was originally serialized in a comic called The Dreamery over 15 years ago. At over a hundred pages, we reckon it's the longest comics adaptation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland out there," said Nat Gertler, publisher of About Comics. "When you take Lewis Carroll's great wordplay and combine it with the attractive and humorous art style of Lela Dowling, you get a joyful piece. Collecting it into a single volume seemed obvious to me. I can't tell you why no publisher beat us to the book rights, but we're thrilled to be able to offer this graphic novel."

Here's how About describes the book:

"Alice tells the tale of a young girl who follows a talking rabbit into a zany and adventure-filled world. There she encounters such characters as disappearing cats, a mock turtle, and a Queen Of Hearts who isn't playing with a full deck. The story includes fanciful poems, odd tea parties, and flamingoes used as sporting equipment."

Dowling is an illustrator who has worked in everything from portfolios to video games. In comics, she is best remembered for her work on The Weasel Patrol and the graphic novelization of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonflight.

The Alice graphic novel will be issued in the About Comics Reader Format, a 5.5" by 7" paperback format that fits well into kids' hands and backpacks. This is the same format used by the About Comics edition of The Liberty Project.

Alice is a black-and-white book, 112 pages, with a full-color cover for $8.95.

BRIEFLY

DC Comics on Tuesday announced it will be releasing a hardcover collection of Matt Wagner's Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity.

"What a thrill and an honor to have Trinity collected in such a beautiful format," Wagner said. "This series was an absolute blast for me from beginning to end. Trying to capture and balance the iconic energy of the world's three most widely recognized super-heroes was a lifelong dream for me and, as an independent creator most used to working on his own properties, I'm happy to say how very accommodating DC was in allowing me to bring my own vision to the table. I'm extremely happy with the final product and I can't wait to get my hands on any or all of these archetypes again!"

The hardcover will include sketchbook and a new cover by Wagner. It will reach stores in May and will cost $24.95.

Here's how the network describes the special, which was originally releaed by Warner Home Video on Oct. 9:

"Since the Powerpuff Girls are made up of sugar and spice, the girls are shocked to find themselves on Santa's naughty list. Princess, Townsville's greediest little girl, has hatched a fiendishly foul plot: to trick Santa into turning her into the fourth Powerpuff Girl. To do so, she managed to switch Santa's lists at the North Pole, making St. Nick believe the Powerpuff Girls have been naughty. Bubbles, Blossom and Buttercup explode into a Yuletide winter blizzard of bad-girl thwarting action to put Princess in her place (on Santa's permanent naughty list) and keep Christmas from disappearing forever.

Amazing Creations Ink will be releasing Brody: The Real American Nightmare in January. The book will be released in the publisher's new portable graphic novel size, 5.5 inches by 8.5 inches, and will be 48 pages.

Here's how the book is described:

"What do zombies fear most on our little planet? She
is 5'5, wears next to nothing, and is a world renouned
zombie hunting machine. When an unsuspecting small
town is besieged by zombies, monster hunter Brody
McNeil jumps into the fray with both barrles blazing!"

The book will feature two covers, one illustrated by Sean Forney and the other a photo of Canadian model Jessi Weeks.

The Sunday, Nov. 30 episode of Smallville: The Beginnings on The WB will be "Rogue."

Access Hollywood will premiere the new Hellboy trailer on Thursday. It will then appear online.

CrossGen Entertainment has released a preview of Way of the Rat #19, which features art from the Kiss Kiss Bang Bang team of Mike Perskins and Andrew Hennessy. Click on the thumbnails below for larger images.

Coming Thursday: DC news -- and much more!!!

COMICS CONTINUUM BACK ISSUES

In case you missed The Continuum's recent coverage, here are some links: